HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THE WAY YOU ARE LIVING?

[BUILD THE TEMPLE BEFORE YOU DO ANY OTHER THING (2)]

When the Israelites were considering their needs instead of rebuilding the Temple of God for God to rest in, strange things were happening in and around them. It was happening to them each day. They saw it happen to their neighbors also as they experienced it, but they could not see the hand of God in it. They thought it was normal because everybody was going through it. So, the Lord drew their attention to what they were failing to notice as a sign from Him to them.


Haggai 1:5-7, 9-10 (TLB)
5 Look at the result:
6 You plant much but harvest little. You have scarcely enough to eat or drink and not enough clothes to keep you warm. Your income disappears, as though you were putting it into pockets filled with holes!
7 “Think it over,” says the Lord Almighty. “Consider how you have acted and what has happened as a result!
9 “You hope for much but get so little. And when you bring it home, I blow it away – it doesn’t last at all. Why? Because my Temple lies in ruins, and you don’t care. YOUR ONLY CONCERN IS YOUR OWN FINE HOMES.
10 That is why I am holding back the rains from heaven and giving you such scant crops.


According to the above scripture, they were harvesting little after planting much because of their failure to rebuild the temple. So, if they knew that, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they scarcely had enough to eat or drink because of their failure to rebuild the temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they did not have enough clothes to keep them warm because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that their income was disappearing as though they were putting it into pockets filled with holes because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that they had little when they were hoping for much and the little they were bringing home were being blown away and were not lasting because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they knew that the rains from heaven were being held back and they were receiving scanty crops because of their failure to rebuild the Temple, they would have been wise to continue with the rebuilding of the Temple of God for God.

If they had known, they would have been quick to rebuild the temple before doing any other thing. But, they failed to notice because they were not considering what was happening to them as a result of their inactions.

They were not considering their lives!

It is the same today. Our failure to notice the little things happening to us because of our failure to rebuild our spiritual walk/life with God is the reason we are going through those little things each day and ignorantly blaming the devil. But the devil is not to blame, YOUR SO-CALLED "CHRISTIAN LIFE” is to blame.
If you have placed the world, thus, the cares of this world, before God, then you are to blame; not the devil!


Matthew 6:33 (TLB) (emphasized)
And He will give them [(food, drink, clothes)] to you IF YOU GIVE HIM FIRST PLACE IN YOUR LIFE AND LIVE AS HE WANTS YOU TO.


Until you put God first, you are to blame, not the devil! The devil has no right over a believer, God does! And God will do everything in His power to grab the attention of His children again. Even if it means taking away what they love most.

So, how are you living your life as a Believer/Christian? Are you living your life for God or for man? Are you living your life according to what God wants or what man wants?

If your answer so far has been in the favor of man, you should now understand why you are going through such misery in life. You should understand why you are still living a powerless life though your Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, had all power and authority in Heaven and Earth given to Him. You should understand why other believers are happily manifesting the power of God when you are not.


CONSIDER YOUR LIFE!

CHURCH FLYER DISTRIBUTION IS CHURCH FLYER DISTRIBUTION, NOT EVANGELISM!

"If your specialty as a believer is to distribute your church's flyer every week or weekend in the name of "evangelism" without speaking to the recipient about Jesus, then you are Church Flyer Distributor doing Church Flyer Distribution; that is not evangelism and you are surely not fulfilling the Great Commission as a believer."

I was one day walking in town when a beautiful lady walked up to me and gave me a beautifully designed and neatly printed flyer. First of all, I was amazed at the quality of the print as a wannabe designer so I quickly decided to scrutinize the print work. As usual, it was the flyer of a growing church. It had the name of the church and talked about a three-day program which the church was about to organize for people having financial problems or who wanted to see a dramatic change in their financial status. It was a front-and-back print work so I turned it to read what was written at the back. At the back were testimonies given by people who had attended previous sessions of the program, and this served as a motivation of a sort for the reader to take advantage of the upcoming one.

All I could say in my head was, “This is a good marketing strategy!” But, I had a problem with the flyer and with the one distributing it. The flyer NEVER SHOWED ME OR SPOKE TO ME ABOUT JESUS. The flyer distributor also DID NOT SPEAK TO ME ABOUT JESUS.  It was more about the Pastor and his gift, and less of THE PERSON THAT CREATED THE PASTOR AND GAVE HIM THE GIFT.

I quickly asked, “How could this change my life or save my life from Hell if I am to die some minutes after reading this?”  How?!

There was nothing in that flyer to speak to me about the Saviour Jesus. There was nothing in that flyer to speak of the Heavenly Father’s love for me. There was nothing in that flyer to convict me of my sins. There was nothing in that flyer to show me the power Christ has to cleanse my sins with His blood. There was nothing in that flyer to encourage me to draw closer to God. There was nothing in that flyer to talk to me about Holiness. There was nothing in that flyer to speak to me about true repentance. There was nothing in that flyer to speak to me about my Adamic nature. There was nothing in that flyer to speak to me about the Cross of Jesus Christ and its benefit to me. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing!

You may be thinking that I am being too hard because some Pastors use these programs as an opportunity to talk about the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. That is very true. But you said "some", not all Pastors. What happens to the poor souls who attend programs that have no connection to Jesus Christ? What happens to them? For some, the world has already given them the money and the worldly materials that they desired and made them lose focus on God. Why then is the church trying to offer them that same thing when we know the consequences of being very desirous or lustful of money instead of God?

I expected the testimony to focus on the power of Christ to change situations. It rather went on and on about how the man of God made people sow certain seeds and had millions afterward. It rather went on and on about how the man of God saw demons fighting the finance of a man and had to cast them out for the man to become a millionaire today. If the lady had even spent a minute or two to share Jesus with me, she would have been fulfilling the Great Commission given by Jesus Christ. But she didn’t! She was far interested in making sure that the flyers in her hand were all distributed in the shortest possible time so that her church would be full of people on the said date, unlike a few others who use the flyer as an avenue to speak to others about the changing power in the name and person of the man Jesus Christ.

SPEAK TO THEM ABOUT JESUS, not your Church.
INVITE THEM TO JESUS, not your Church programs.
CONNECT THEM TO JESUS, not your various Church groups.
SHOW THEM THE LOVE OF JESUS! The world needs Jesus, not our programs, structures, strategies or gifts. 



"If you cannot speak to me about Jesus, do not approach me with your church flyer. My attending your church would not assure me of my salvation. It is my connection to Jesus Christ that will."